Secrets and Suffering (ocs wanted)
by ArghhWhyCantIThinkOfOne
Summary: A she-cat goes on a journey to find the father she never knew. Meanwhile, her brother is stuck behind in AcornClan, dealing with the realization, that he will probably never be a warrior. OCs wanted.
1. Chapter 1

A cool breeze buffeted Dappledfur's cream and grey pelt, as she followed Beeflight out of the camp.

Normally, she was faster than the medicine cat apprentice, but the kits growing inside of her, slowed her down considerably.

Once they were a far distance away from the camp, Beeflight turned to her, with sadness shining in his eyes.

"Dappledfur, do you remember the first day you became a warrior?" he asked.

"Yes, you dared me to go check out the clans in the other forest, WindClan, RiverClan-"

"Yes, and remember that white tom you saved from the river?"

At the mention of the tom, Dappledfur's heart fluttered in her chest.

"How could I forget? We saved him! I pulled him out of the river, and you helped nurse him back to health, he would have died without us, not a day goes by, that I don't congratulate myself on what a good deed I did, and you should be proud too!"

The fur on Beeflight's neck rose.

"You couldn't have just kept it at that could you?" he hissed, "After he was all better, you couldn't have just left him alone."

"What are you saying?"

Beeflight narrowed his eyes.

"You had to keep seeing him, moon after moon," he dug his claws into the ground, and whispered the last part so softly, that Dappledfur had to strain her ears to hear, "You had to fall in love with him."

The mottled she-cat gazed down at her paws, feeling shame over-take her.

Yes, she had fallen in love with the cat they had saved, and yes, the kits that were currently growing inside of her were his, but that didn't mean that she wasn't a loyal AcornClan cat, and that her kits wouldn't be either!

"It's over between us, he doesn't even know I'm expecting kits, he left to go find his kin, he won't bother us."

"That's not the point!" Beeflight spat, "I have to deal with the fact that I carry the knowledge with me, that there's a traitor in the clan," he shook with anger, "I thought you were better than this, Dappledfur, I thought you were loyal to the warrior code!"

"I _am_ loyal to the warrior code!" she hissed, "Just because I made one mistake, doesn't make me a traitor! I fell in love, is that such a crime? I know you're a medicine cat, and you'll probably never understand what it's like to be in love, but-"

Warm fur cut off Dappledfur's words, as Beeflight slapped his tail over her mouth.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have judged you so harshly," he took a deep breath, "Look, I never intended to tell Whitestar your secret, I just wanted you to tell me the truth," he glanced off to the side, "We used to tell each other everything."

Dappledfur rested her tail over Beeflight's back.

"I won't keep anymore secrets from you, I promise."

The light brown tabby narrowed his eyes.

"I hope not, and while we're out here, can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure, you can ask me anything!" Dappledfur meowed; she owed the tom a life-time of favors for keeping her secret. She couldn't help but to bristle, as she imagined how angry Whitestar would be; she might even exile her and her kits!

"Dappledfur, are you alright? You look scared," Beeflight asked softly.

"Yes, I'm fine," she meowed, willing her fur to lay flat, "Now, what was this favor of yours?"

The light brown tabby shuffled his paws, looking a bit nervous, before blurting out,

"I would like to be a mentor of one of your kits, so when they're old enough, could you put in a good word to Whitestar for me?"

"But what if they don't want to be a medicine cat? And AcornClan already has you and Sapleaf, and Sapleaf isn't ready for the elder's den yet. His littermate, Honeyflower, just had her kit a moon ago!" Dappledfur exclaimed.

"I know that Dappledfur," Beeflight sighed, "You don't have to worry about whether one of them wants to be a medicine cat or not, or about the fact that AcornClan already has a medicine cat, because I'm not going to be a medicine cat anymore."

"What? Why? Ever since we were kits, you talked about nothing else, except how you wanted to be a medicine cat! You were ecstatic when Sapleaf chose you to be his apprentice! You love healing other cats, and talking to StarClan! What changed?"

Beeflight turned away, and sat down, with his head lowered.

"Nothing's changed," he meowed softly, "It just doesn't feel right, I can't go on being the medicine cat of AcornClan, knowing that I'm betraying them, by keeping your secret, it feels like I'm going against the warrior code, and a cat who goes against the code, doesn't deserve to be a medicine cat."

Guilt shot through Dappledfur's chest, why should Beeflight have to give up what he loved, just because of her mistake?

"Don't do that, I'll tell Whitestar the truth!"

"No!" Beeflight's eyes widened with horror, "Have you completely lost your mind? You know how much Whitestar hates when cats break the warrior code, she'd exile you and your kits without a second thought, and you already said that their father left to go find his kin, and that he doesn't even know about them, I can survive without being a medicine cat, but can you and your kits survive without a clan?"

"You're right," Dappledfur relented with a sigh, though his words made sense, it did nothing to relieve her guilt.

"Good, and when cats ask about who the father is, you don't have to worry, Aspenbranch has already agreed to say that he's the father."

"I thought you didn't tell anyone!" Dappledfur hissed, her guilt being replaced by anger.

Beeflight narrowed his eyes.

"I had to think of a plan didn't I? Don't worry, Aspenbranch is a very trustworthy cat, and he was your apprentice, so I highly doubt he'd betray you."

"I guess not," Dappledfur sighed, all feelings of anger left her body, and she sat down, feeling completely and utterly exhausted.

"I think we should get you back to camp," Beeflight meowed, "And you don't have to worry about anything, no one will ever know that the father of your kits is-" he narrowed his eyes, "What's his name again?"

"Darktail, his name is Darktail."

* * *

_A/N: And there you have it, the prologue._

_There are three clans in this story_

_AcornClan_

_CreekClan_

_BrightClan_

_There will also be cats from The Kin, maybe even Sleekwhisker or Raven had kits, who knows?_

* * *

_Anyway, here is the OC sheet_

_Name:_

_Clan:_

_Fur Color:_

_Eye Color:_

_Extra Appearance: _

_Personality:_

_Rank:_

_Three Additional Facts:_

_Other:_


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks to Guest, Animal4Life, Serpentfeather, BluejayTheMedicineCat, and Jack the Dragon for their ocs._

_I have enough kits and apprentices for AcornClan for now._

* * *

Sunlight streamed through the nursery brambles, warming Meadowkit's belly fur, as she lay in her nest, too comfortable to move.

If given the chance, she could probably stay there until her apprentice ceremony.

_But it's still three whole moons away! _

She glanced over at Larchkit, the oldest kit in the nursery, he was going to be six moons old soon, and he'd been bragging about it for days now.

She then looked at her brother, Juniperkit, who was laying next to her, his small white paws churning away at Dappledfur's belly.

Three moons old and still nursing, she thought, holding back a contemptuous snort.

She had been eating fresh-kill for over a moon now herself, however, her brother hadn't seemed to catch on yet.

"Hey, you're awake," a soft voice meowed, Meadowkit turned her head, to find Maplekit looking at her, mischief gleamed in the younger kit's blue eyes, which were many shades darker than Juniperkit's.

In fact, it was a bit hard to discern her eyes from her black fur.

"Yes," Meadowkit rose to her paws, and glanced around the nursery with narrowed eyes, "Everyone's pretty much asleep, what prank shall we pull today?"

Maplekit twitched her whiskers and closed her eyes.

"Hmm, what about putting a thorn in Larchkit's nest?"

A purr erupted from Meadowkit's chest, pranking Larchkit was her favorite thing in the world, it was even better than the taste of squirrel, she loved bringing the arrogant kit down a little.

"Are you two talking about pranking Larchkit again?" Juniperkit asked with a sleepy mew.

"Yeah, wanna help?" Meadowkit asked, thinking, the more cats to prank Larchkit, the better.

To her surprise and disappointment, Juniperkit shook his head.

"No thanks, I like Larchkit, he makes me laugh."

He must have bees in his brain, Meadowkit thought with a slight roll of her eyes, Larchkit was the most arrogant, most annoying, dumbest, meanest cat that she'd ever had the displeasure of meeting.

She glanced over at the golden tabby tom with a glare, he was sleeping next to his mother, Honeyflower, who had her tail wrapped snugly around him.

Since he was the only kit in his litter, she was extra protective over him, and she also spoiled him, all of the queens did.

It was like,

'Oh, poor Larchkit! He doesn't have any littermates when all the other kits do!'

_Pathetic. _

She just had to find comfort in the thought, that there was only one Larchkit, she didn't know what she would do, if there were more of him.

"So, the prank? What's it going to be?"

Meadowkit turned her attention back to Maplekit, who was kneading the ground excitedly.

"You kits better not be planning any pranks," Cinderleaf, Maplekit's mother, mrrowed.

"Never!" Maplekit exclaimed with her eyes wide, and Meadowkit nodded.

The grey tortoiseshell nodded.

"Good, because Flowerpelt's kits will come any day now, and you don't want to do anything to stress her out, do you?"

"Oh, she'll be fine," Dappledfur meowed, with a flick of her tail, "She's a warrior, she's faced much more stressful things than a few kit pranks."

"Actually, she's a permanent queen," Honeyflower announced, obvious distaste laced her meow.

Meadowkit couldn't understand why though, what was wrong with being a queen all the time?

"That's not a bad thing," Cinderleaf meowed, voicing Meadowkit's thoughts, "It's good to have an extra paw to help out with the kits."

"If a cat can't take care of her kits herself, is she even fit to be a mother?" the golden tabby queen sneered.

"That's easy for you to say, you only have one kit," Dappledfur spat.

Cinderleaf nodded.

Well, Larchkit is more of a handful than five kits at least! Meadowkit thought, she didn't say it out loud though, she didn't want the other queens thinking that she was on Honeyflower's side.

"Well, whatever, I just think that if a cat doesn't have kits, then she should be out helping the clan, rather than lazing around, getting fat on fresh-kill, that other cats have caught," Honeyflower spat.

A small gasp came from the other side of the nursery, and Meadowkit turned her head to the source of the noise, to see Flowerpelt laying there, with hurt shining in her green eyes.

_She had heard what they were talking about!_

Juniperkit padded over to the orange and white queen, and rubbed his muzzle against hers.

"Don't worry about what mean old Honeyflower says," he meowed, "I think you're the best cat in AcornClan, after Dappledfur and Meadowkit of course."

"Well, what about Aspenbranch?" Flowerpelt asked with a small mrrow, to Meadowkit's relief, she no longer seemed upset about Honeyflower's harsh words.

Juniperkit's blue eyes widened.

"Ohh, I had forgotten about him."

Meadowkit held back a sigh, ever since their father had started spending more time with Amberfern, he stopped hanging out with them as much, in fact, she couldn't remember the last time he had visited the nursery.

"Every cat gather around for a clan meeting!" Whitestar yowled.

As though a fire ant had bit him, Larchkit jumped out of his nest.

"Is it time for my apprentice ceremony already?" he asked with excitement shining in his amber gaze.

Honeyflower shook her head.

"I'm not sure, it's not supposed to be for a few more days; why didn't Whitestar give us any warning?"

"I'm more curious as to the fact why she's calling everyone out there, even the kits," Cinderleaf meowed, as she padded out of the nursery, with Maplekit and Molekit following her.

"We'll play a prank later," Maplekit mouthed, before disappearing out of the brambles.

"Come on, kits," Dappledfur meowed.

"Do you mind if I walk out there with Flowerpelt? I don't want her to have to walk out alone," Juniperkit meowed.

"If that's alright with her," their mother mrrowed.

Meadowkit couldn't help but to glare at him, did he like Flowerpelt better than Dappledfur?

She didn't have long to ponder on it though, because the next thing she knew, she was practically being pushed out of the nursery by her mother's tail.

As soon as she was out in the clearing, she wanted to race back to the comforts of her nest.

Now that she wasn't being shaded by the brambles, the sun felt as though it was burning straight through her pelt.

"There's a traitor among us," the white pelted leader growled, from her perch on the largest oak tree in the far right of the camp.

Meadowkit held back a gasp, the heat of the sun forgotten, as she peered up at her leader.

Who would betray AcornClan?

She knew that Badgerstep and Shrewclaw could be a little aggressive, but they wouldn't do anything to betray the clan, would they?

"Dappledfur," Meadowkit's ears perked up at the sound of her mother's name, "It's come to my attention that Aspenbranch isn't the real father of your kits, that the real father isn't even a clan cat!"

Meadowkit's heart stilled, and her blood ran cold, and she slowly turned her head, to look at Aspenbranch, who was staring down at his paws.

He wasn't their father? Then who was?

She turned back to her mother, to see that fear and agony was shining in her orange eyes.

"Aspenbranch, why?" she asked in a hurt filled meowed.

"I'm sorry!" the pale ginger tabby exclaimed, "I-I love Amberfern, but she wouldn't be my mate, because she thought I already had a mate and kits, so I had to tell her the truth!"

The dark golden tabby nodded.

"Yes, and I had to tell Whitestar the truth," she sniffed, "We can't have a traitor in the clan."

"Exile her!" Badgerstep yowled.

"Exile them all!" Shrewclaw cried.

Meadowkit's heart started pounding in her chest, and she saw her brother's eyes widen fearfully, they wouldn't exile them, would they?

Where would they go? Would CreekClan or BrightClan let them join?

"We can't exile kits!" Sweethaze meowed softly, Stormfoot nodded.

"But they're against the warrior code!" Kinkpaw exclaimed.

"It's not the kits fault that their mother broke the code, they shouldn't be punished for it," Redwind meowed.

The deputy, Talonleap, meowed something Whitestar's ear, that Meadowkit couldn't make out.

The white she-cat nodded.

"Dappledfur is to leave the clan, but her kits can stay," she nodded her head to Badgerstep and Shrewclaw, "Escort her out of here."

"No!" Juniperkit cried, racing up, and standing between Dappledfur and the two cats who were coming to take her away.

Meadowkit wanted to do something to help her mother too, but she felt as though she was being rooted in place by some unseen force.

"Get out of our way," Shrewclaw growled.

"No! I won't let you take my mother!" Juniperkit cried, swiping his claws at the two large warriors.

Meadowkit held back a small gasp of shock, when Badgerstep raised his large black paw, knocking Juniperkit aside, causing the kit to land hard on the ground.

Her shock was quickly replaced with the feeling of anger welling up in her chest, until she felt as though she would burst with rage.

_No one hurts my brother and gets away with it!_

Letting out a screech of fury, she threw herself at Badgerstep, only to feel sharp teeth dig into her scruff.

"Do we really want these kits in our clan? They're acting like rogues already," Honeyflower growled, her words slightly muffled by Meadowkit's scruff.

"The kits will stay," Whitestar meowed, narrowing her eyes, "I can think of no better punishment for Dappledfur, than to be separated from her kits."

"That's cruel!" Beeflight spat.

"Oh Beeflight, I almost forgot, you knew about Dappledfur's betrayal didn't you? Not only did you know about it, but you also got Aspenbranch involved, for your crimes, you are to be exiled as well."

Sapleaf, the medicine cat, lowered his head.

"At first, I didn't understand why you chose to stop being a medicine cat, but now I think I know why," he meowed, sounding a bit sad.

"You can't separate me from my kits!" Dappledfur wailed, "Juniperkit isn't eating fresh-kill yet!"

"Don't worry, Dappledfur, I will take care of your kits for you," Flowerpelt meowed softly.

Anger flashed in Juniperkit's eyes, and he bristled.

"I don't want you to take care of me!" he spat, "I want my mother!"

"Well, too bad," Honeyflower meowed, "Your mother broke the code, and she is never, ever coming back."

At Honeyflower's words, realization sank into Meadowkit, and her heart felt like it would shatter.

She would never see her mother again.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: _

_Thank you to Duskspiral for their OCs._

_You Rutting Fool, thank you :)_

_Guest, what are the descriptions and names of Flowerpelt and Brackenclaw's future kits?_

* * *

Silence filled the nursery, except for the soft cries emitting from Meadowkit.

Juniperkit tucked his tail over his ears, trying to block out the sounds, wishing there was something that he could say to his sister, to make her feel better, but he didn't know what.

Tell her that Dappledfur was going to come back?

He couldn't lie to her, could he?

His heart sank to the bottom of his stomach, as he thought about his mother, the softness of her fur, the gentleness of her voice.

A hard lump formed in his throat, he would never feel her fur, or hear her voice again, she was never coming back.

It was like she'd gone to StarClan, he thought, thinking about his brother.

One day, he was there, and the next, he was gone.

When he asked Dappledfur where he went, she told him, that he had went to StarClan, but he was still watching over him.

Juniperkit doubted that, because he never saw him again.

I wish Badgerstep would go to StarClan, he thought, clawing at the moss that lined Flowerpelt's nest, and Shrewclaw, and Aspenbranch, and Amberfern, he glanced over at where Honeyflower was sleeping, with her tail tightly curled around Larchkit, and Honeyflower.

No, he shook his head sharply, Larchkit was his friend, he didn't want him to lose his mother too.

"Juniperkit?"

The black tom froze at the sound of his sister's voice.

"Are you awake?"

"Yes," he managed to squeak out a few heartbeats later, just because he didn't know what to say to her, didn't mean that he should ignore her completely.

"Do you think Dappledfur is going to come back for us?" Flowerpelt's fur ruffled, as Meadowkit stepped over her, but the queen didn't wake up, "She has to come back for us right? She is our mother."

Juniperkit flattened his ears, this was exactly the conversation he had been avoiding.

Even if Dappledfur could survive out there on her own, which he doubted, from hearing all the horrible tales about badgers, foxes, and other dangers, if she tried to step one paw into AcornClan territory, Badgerstep or Shrewclaw would make sure it was the last step she ever took.

"We not only lost a mother, but we lost a father too," Meadowkit sighed.

"Aspenbranch was never a father to us," Juniperkit growled.

He didn't feel at all upset to learn that the pale ginger tom wasn't his real father, in fact, he felt relieved, though, he couldn't help wondering who his real father was. What clan he was from, if he was in one, and what he looked like.

Does he look like me? He wondered, or like Meadowkit? Or is he a mixture of us both?

Meadowkit had the same mottled grey and cream fur that Dappledfur had, but it was only on her tail and ears, the rest of her body was white, she also had Dappledfur's orange eyes.

He must have blue eyes like me, Juniperkit thought, knowing that his eyes were blue, from that time, that he and Meadowkit were playing moss ball outside the nursery, and she remarked that his eyes were the same color as the sky at sun-high.

"Do you think Whitestar will still make us warriors?"

"She's got to make us apprentices first," Juniperkit snorted.

His sister rolled her eyes.

"I know that, squirrel-brain, but I mean, when the time comes, do you think she will?"

Juniperkit flicked his tail, wondering for a moment, if his father had a thick spiky furred tail like his, or a long thin tail like Meadowkit's.

"She should, I mean, we're still AcornClan cats, right?" Juniperkit meowed, trying to convince himself, as well as his sister.

_What if the mean cats in the clan convinced the leader to exile them too?_

_They definitely couldn't survive all the dangers outside the camp barriers! _

"If I had it my way, you two would have been thrown out with Dappledfur," a harsh mew growled from Larchkit and Honeyflower's nest.

Juniperkit blinked with surprise, and turned to the kit who had spoken.

"Why would you say that? I thought we were friends!" he gasped, as Meadowkit let out a soft wail, and buried her face in Flowerpelt's flank.

"Friends?" Larchkit spat, "With a half-clan mistake like you? How pathetic are you?"

Pain shot through Juniperkit's heart, so badly, that he felt as though he would be sick.

Why was his friend talking to him this way? Why was the kit that he'd played moss ball with, for as long as he could remember, acting like he was an enemy from CreekClan or BrightClan?

"That's enough," Flowerpelt growled in a low warning tone.

At the sound of her voice, warmth spread throughout Juniperkit's pelt, dulling Larchkit's harsh words slightly, he was glad that at least one cat in the clan was on his side.

"I think Larchkit has a right to say what's on his mind, and you can't say that he isn't wrong," Honeyflower sniffed.

Flowerpelt twitched her tail.

"Well, it isn't right, who taught him how to say such horrible things?"

"I'm proud that my son isn't afraid to speak his mind, that he knows what's right and what isn't, and that he knows the right sort of cats to associate himself with."

Honeyflower was standing outside of her nest now, with her fur rising up over her spine.

"Badgerstep and I both know that these," she narrowed her eyes, casting a fierce glare in Juniperkit and Meadowkit's direction, "these...mistakes don't belong here, and it's good that our kit knows the same, it shows true intelligence and loyalty to AcornClan."

"Wow, you're such a good cat! Bullying kits," Cinderleaf spat, beside her, Maplekit and Molekit shifted in the nest, but they didn't wake up, which Juniperkit was grateful about.

If they had anything bad to say to them, he wasn't sure if Meadowkit could take it, she and Maplekit were good friends.

The entrance to the nursery suddenly shifted, and Cougarpaw padded in, carrying a squirrel in her jaws.

"What are you doing in here apprentice?" Honeyflower spat, whirling around to face the fluffy white she-cat, who set the squirrel at Honeyflower's paws.

"I brought you some fresh-kill, I figured that since you're awake, you must be hungry."

"And you think I'm going to eat _that_?" the golden queen sniffed, "You honestly think that I'm going to eat fresh-kill that was caught _yesterday_?" she shook her head, "You must have bees in your brain."

"Don't listen to her", Flowerpelt meowed, "The rest of us will be happy to eat the squirrel," she blinked at the apprentice, "Thank you for being so thoughtful, I'm proud that my mate has you as his apprentice."

Cougarpaw shifted her paws.

"Y-You're welcome, Brackenclaw's a great mentor," she meowed.

"I wonder who my mentor will be?" Larchkit meowed, "I hope it's Badgerstep, he's the most fierce cat in the clan!"

"Unfortunately, Whitestar doesn't allow parents to mentor their kits," Honeyflower sighed.

"Well then," Larchkit turned his amber gaze to Juniperkit and Meadowkit, "It should be easy for you two to have mentors, you don't have any parents in this clan!"

"I don't think they have any kin here at all," Honeyflower mrrowed, "Beeflight was their mother's littermate, and he was exiled too," she shook her head, "Serves him right for being a traitor."

"Think about this Honeyflower," Cinderleaf meowed, "You're bullying kits."

The golden queen rolled her eyes.

"Oh be quiet Cinderleaf! You sound like a magpie, always repeating the same things over and over, I'm not bullying them, I'm just telling them like it is."

A sharp yowl rang throughout the camp, causing all the cats in the nursery to stop their arguing, and look towards the nursery entrance.

Juniperkit bounded forward, and stuck his head out, to see Flamepatch running in, with Sweethaze, Kestrelpaw, and Flightpaw following close behind.

"What's going on?" Whitestar demanded, racing over with Talonleap at her paws.

"It's Dappledfur!" the black and ginger warrior gasped.

Hope swelled up in Juniperkit's chest at the mention of his mother's name, she'd come back for them?

The white furred leader lashed her tail.

"She's back on our territory? Doesn't she know what exiled means?"

Flamepatch shook her head.

"No, she's dead, and it looks like a cat killed her!"


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: _

_I think this is enough AcornClan cats, I will post the other allgieances as soon as they fill up more._

_Thank you to WarriorCatsFan2098 for their ocs._

* * *

**AcornClan**

**Leader: Whitestar - white she-cat with green eyes**

**Deputy: Talonleap - large, muscular, battle scarred brown tabby tom, with white hind paws, and clear blue eyes**

**Medicine Cat: Sapleaf - pale golden tabby tom with green eyes**

**Warriors:**

**Amberfern - dark golden tabby she-cat with green eyes**

**Badgerstep - black and white tom with amber eyes**

**Aspenbranch - pale ginger tom with yellow eyes**

**Brackenclaw - brown tabby tom with green eyes, and a scarred left ear**

**Shrewclaw - large, muscular, thick furred, battled scarred white she-cat, with dark brown tabby legs/ears/tail, large claws, and orange eyes**

**Sweethaze - small, lithe, pale grey she-cat with clear green eyes**

**Stormfoot - black she-cat with pale blue eyes**

**Redwind - dark ginger tom with pale green eyes**

**Wolffang - large, wolf-grey tom, with unique black markings, and amber eyes**

**Flamepatch - black and ginger she-cat with yellow eyes**

**Bluebeetle - blue-grey tom with blue eyes**

**Fennelcloud - fluffy pale brown tabby she-cat**

**Honeyflower - golden tabby she-cat with green eyes**

**Apprentices:**

**Kestralpaw - muscular, sleek furred, golden tabby tom, with white chest/muzzle/paws, and amber eyes**

**Kinkpaw - skinny, dark tortoiseshell she-cat, with amber eyes, and long wiry whiskers**

**Cougarpaw - very long, very fluffy white she-cat, with a brown spot on the back of her neck, and electric blue eyes**

**Flightpaw - long and elegant fluffy white she-cat, with chocolate brown paws/ears, large bushy ears, and bright brown eyes**

**Larchpaw - ginger tabby tom with amber eyes**

**Queens:**

**Flowerpelt - orange she-cat with white splotches, and green eyes (expecting kits) **

**Cinderleaf - lithe grey tortoiseshell she-cat with a white chest, tufted ears, and dark green eyes (mother of Maplekit and Molekit)**

**Kits:**

**Juniperkit - black tom with white legs, a thick spiky furred tail, and blue eyes**

**Meadowkit - a white she-kit, with a cream and grey tail, ears, and orange eyes**

**Maplekit - lithe black she-cat with silver swirling markings, tufted ears, feathered paws, and midnight blue eyes**

**Molekit - bright ginger tom, with a fluffy tail, long whiskers, and sunset colored eyes**

**Elders:**

**Oliveclaw - black she-cat**

**Hollybush - fluffy ginger spotted tabby she-cat **

**Owlcry - mottled brown tom**

* * *

Warmth spread throughout Meadowkit, as she chewed on a piece of squirrel, and a flutter of happiness rose in her chest as she swallowed it down.

Not long after that though, the happiness faded, and her heart wrenched, as she remembered that her mother was never coming back.

Someone had killed her, she dug her claws into the ground, and held back a wail, someone had killed the kindest cat she'd ever known.

She bent down, and took another bite of squirrel, her anger and hurt being momentarily forgotten.

Ever since she found out about her mother a quarter moon ago, it seemed like the only thing that could dull her ache, was the taste of fresh-kill.

"If you keep eating like that, you're going to get as big as Flowerpelt!" Maplekit exclaimed.

Meadowkit briefly turned her head away from the squirrel, to cast a glance at the orange and white queen, who was as big as a boulder, and would probably have her kits any time now.

Her gaze then drifted over to her brother, who was staring down at a blackbird with a look of confusion in his eyes.

A few sunrises ago, he had attempted to eat fresh-kill, first, it was a piece of her squirrel, which she had bitten off for him, but he said that it tasted funny.

Then, it was a mouse, but he complained about the fur sticking in his throat.

"I don't like the feathers," she heard him mutter.

Meadowkit sighed, would her brother ever be normal?

"Pick the feathers out," Cinderleaf meowed, shaking her head, "Seriously, my kits are eating fresh-kill, and they're a moon younger than you are," the grey tortoiseshell queen narrowed her eyes, "Flowerpelt's kits will be here soon, you don't want to keep taking their food, do you?"

Juniperkit's eyes widened, and he shook his head.

"Good, then stop complaining, and eat that bird."

Meadowkit nearly dropped the piece of squirrel she was eating, when her brother bristled and bared his teeth at the queen.

"You're not my mother, and you never will be!" he spat before racing out of the nursery.

Meadowkit cast a longing glance at her squirrel, before racing out after him.

"Juniperkit! Wait!" she called.

Leaves flew up, creating a small cloud, as he skidded to a halt, and whipped around to face her, fury was shining in his eyes.

"What?"

"Why did you get angry at Cinderleaf? She was only trying to help."

Juniperkit let out a low growl, and turned away from her, and Meadowkit bunched up her muscles, preparing herself to run after him again, when he turned back around and sighed.

"I hate the fact that she reminded me that Flowerpelt is going to have kits soon," he clawed at the ground, "She's going to forget me, she'll focus all of her attention on them," a growl rumbled in his throat, "Why should they, why should any of them, get to have a mother, when we don't?"

"It's not their fault what happened," Meadowkit meowed, trying to choose her words carefully, so she didn't upset her brother even more, "Would it really make you happier for them to be miserable?"

He shook is head, and looked down at the ground.

"No," he muttered.

"Can you at least try eating fresh-kill again?" Meadowkit asked, nodding her head over to the hunting patrol, who had just returned, laden with prey.

She had to hold back a groan, when she saw that Larchpaw was at the front, with his chest puffed up, and his head held high.

In his jaws was a squirrel.

A fresh squirrel, not like the squirrel she was about to eat in the nursery, which wasn't crow-food, but it wasn't exactly desirable either.

This squirrel would taste way better!

She swiped her tongue across her mouth, imagining sinking her teeth into the tasty morsel; her belly rumbled at the thought.

"I caught the biggest squirrel ever!" Larchpaw exclaimed.

The arrogant tom's voice broke Meadowkit out of her hunger daze, and she shook her head, trying to come back to her senses.

There's no way she would ever eat any disgusting bit of fresh-kill that Larchpaw caught, no matter how tasty it looked... and smelled.

Her stomach rumbled louder, and she once again started imagining the taste of the squirrel, when her brother's voice brought her back to her senses.

"Hey Larchpaw!" he called, bounding over to the ginger tom.

Meadowkit sighed, and followed him.

The apprentice narrowed his eyes, and deposited the squirrel into the fresh-kill pile, before turning to the kits.

"You half-clans better not take my squirrel! I caught that for real AcornClan cats."

"We don't want your stupid squirrel anyway!" Meadowkit spat, "Not when your gross paws have been all over it."

"I think it's the most magnificent squirrel I've ever seen!" Juniperkit exclaimed.

Meadowkit narrowed her eyes at her brother, what was that squirrel-brain doing?

"Of course, it's not as magnificent as you are Larchpaw, your golden fur just shines in the sunlight, and you're already almost as big as a warrior! I'm sure that once Whitestar loses her last life, and once you get an apprentice, Talonleap will make you his deputy," he purred, as Larchpaw's chest puffed out even more with pride.

Anger rose in Meadowkit's chest.

_As if he needs his ego inflated even more. _

"That's a load of mouse droppings!" she spat, "Larchpaw is an arrogant furball, who is no better than anyone else, and the day he becomes deputy, will be the day that hedgehogs fly!"

"Don't speak that way; you should be ashamed of yourself!" Amberfern snarled, coming to stand in front of Larchpaw.

From behind her back, Larchpaw made a face, and Meadowkit made one back, which caused the dark golden warrior to bristle.

"Mind your manners," she growled lowly before stalking off with Larchpaw at her paws.

"I hate Amberfern and Larchpaw!" Meadowkit hissed, digging her claws into the ground.

Why did they have to be so mean? Why did almost all of their clanmates have to give her and her brother strange looks? Why couldn't she go anywhere without being reminded that she didn't belong?

"Don't worry about them," Juniperkit licked his paw and swiped it over his ear, "They'll go to StarClan someday, and then we'll never have to worry about them again."

"Well, I hope it's sooner than later," Meadowkit muttered.

"By the way, why are you such a suck up to Larchpaw anyway?"

"You know what they say, keep your friends close, but your enemies closer."

"In that case, we should move to BrightClan or CreekClan," Meadowkit snorted.

Juniperkit's eyes darkened.

"I have no enemies in those clans, they've never done anything wrong to me," his gaze shifted over to Whitestar's den briefly, before he jumped to his paws.

"Cougarpaw and Flightpaw are back from border patrol, do you think they'll teach us any battle moves?"

"Cougarpaw might, but I doubt Flightpaw will, she's been acting strange around us ever since.." Meadowkit sighed, "Anyway, she's practically blind, it won't be a fair fight."

"Yes it will," Juniperkit protested, "She's been an apprentice for moons now, so she has more experience, and plus she's a lot bigger than us."

"A lot bigger than you," Meadowkit snorted, "You're no bigger than a flea!"

"And you're more annoying than one!" Juniperkit exclaimed, pouncing on her, before she had time to dodge out of the way.

Not that it mattered much, he didn't even make her budge off her paws.

She wasted no time, in throwing him off of her back, and pinning him to the ground.

"So, maybe I can't beat Flightpaw, but at least I can beat you," she mrrowed.

"Yeah," Juniperkit sighed, his eyes darkening with sadness.

"What?" Meadowkit clambered off and came to sit beside him, "You're not upset that I beat you are you?"

He shook his head and clawed the ground.

"I just feel guilty, feeling happy and having fun, knowing that Dappledfur is gone, it's like, I'm.." he shook his head, "I don't know how to explain it."

A pang shot through Meadowkit's heart at the mention of their mother.

It wasn't fair, why did StarClan have to take her from them?

"Dappledfur wouldn't have wanted us to mope around all the time, she would have wanted us to move on with our lives, and to be the best warriors that we can be," a surge of determination coursed through her pelt, "She would have wanted us to prove everyone who spoke out against us wrong, she would have wanted us to make them regret ever calling us half-clan and making us feel like we didn't belong!"

"Yeah!" Juniperkit exclaimed, "We're going to be the best AcornClan warriors that the clan has ever seen!"

"Yes," Meadowkit purred, turning her attention to the fresh-kill pile, "Now, let's go do what we came out here for."

Just as she started to take a mouse from the pile, a sharp cry sounded from the nursery.

Juniperkit flattened his ears.

"That's Flowerpelt!" he exclaimed, "We have to go help her!"

Meadowkit shook her head, and quickly held her brother back by his tail, before he could bolt off towards the nursery.

"No squirrel-brain," she meowed, her words slightly muffled by the thick fur of his tail, "She's having her kits!"


	5. Chapter 5

Three small bundles of fur nestled against Flowerpelt's belly.

Even though Juniperkit wasn't pleased about their arrival at first, he had to admit that they were cute.

"What did you name them?" he asked Flowerpelt.

"This one is Applekit," the orange and white queen purred, touching a ginger tabby tom-kit, with white paws, lightly with her tail.

"This one is Berrykit," she moved her tail to another tom-kit, who was the exact copy of her.

"And this one is Cloverkit."

Her black fur sure does stand out against her mother and brother's ginger and white fur, Juniperkit thought, as he stared at the tortoiseshell she-kit.

_Did I stand out that much against Dappledfur and Meadowkit?_

"Aw they're so cute! What did you name them?" Meadowkit asked, bounding up behind Juniperkit with Maplekit.

As Flowerpelt repeated their names to the two she-kits, Juniperkit padded over to Molekit, who was sleeping as usual.

The bright ginger kit slept so much, that Juniperkit wondered if he was even alive half the time.

He thought about prodding the kit awake, but he decided against it, there was one ginger cat he wanted to see more.

"I'm going exploring!" he announced, before padding out of the den.

"Be careful and come back before the sun goes down!" Cinderleaf called out after him, making him flatten his ears.

Why was Cinderleaf always telling him what to do? She wasn't his mother, and she didn't take care of him like Flowerpelt had after Dappledfur...

His heart wrenched with pain, and then it hardened with determination, as he sank his claws into the ground.

One day, he would find out who killed her, and he'd make them sorry they were ever kitted.

His eyes scanned the clearing, where everyone was sharing tongues, eating fresh-kill, chattering on about patrols, normal every day stuff.

They acted as though they weren't even upset about Dappledfur.

Maybe they weren't, he held back a growl, hardly anyone spoke up for her when Whitestar exiled her.

It seemed like the only cats who cared, were him and Meadowkit.

Not even Aspenbranch, the cat who he believed to be his father for most of his life, said one word to him or his sister, he was too busy following Amberfern around everywhere.

"And I told that Quickpaw if he dare steps paw on our territory again, I'll shred his ears!"

Juniperkit's heart jumped at the voice.

_Larchpaw! _

He raced over to him, and the ginger apprentice sneered when his gaze fell on him.

"What are you doing, Half-Clan?" he demanded.

"I heard about how you told off that mangy BrightClan cat, I bet after meeting someone as strong and brave as you, he wouldn't dare step paw over AcornClan territory again," Juniperkit purred.

He knew that it was weird, to be complimenting the cat who constantly insulted him, but he missed how things used to be when Larchpaw was his friend, back before the truth was found out, and he'd give almost anything to be able to play moss ball with him again.

"Yeah!" Larchpaw spat, "That Quickpaw thinks he can do whatever he wants, just because he's a medicine cat apprentice! As if that makes him special or something."

"But medicine cats are special," Kinkpaw meowed, as she came to stand beside Larchpaw.

Juniperkit bristled at the sight of her, remembering that she had said that he and Meadowkit were against The Warrior Code, when Dappledfur was being exiled.

"Why are you talking to him for?" the dark tortoiseshell she-cat asked, barely even glancing at Juniperkit.

"I wasn't! He's just annoying, and he won't stop following me around," Larchpaw protested, he then turned to Juniperkit, his amber eyes glaring with hatred.

"Get this through your thick head, stop following me around, stop talking to me, I will never ever be your friend!" he hissed.

Juniperkit cowered back, as pain, almost as bad as the pain he felt when he learned of Dappledfur's death, filled his heart.

He lied when he told Meadowkit that he was only being nice to Larchpaw, because he considered him an enemy.

The truth was, he thought of him as a friend, and even though he wasn't old enough to have a mate yet, he'd already thought about spending the rest of his life by Larchpaw's side.

Now, the ginger furred apprentice didn't even want to be his friend!

He was acting as though he belonged in the dirt pile, or worse!

Anger then flared through his chest, smothering the hurt, if this was what Larchpaw wanted, then fine! He wouldn't be his friend.

"Fine Larchpaw, if that's what you want, let it be known, that from this day forth, until you go to StarClan, we are enemies!" Juniperkit hissed, before storming away from the two apprentices.

"Fine by me!" the ginger apprentice called after him, Juniperkit just ignored him though, he wouldn't waste his time fretting over a fox-heart like Larchpaw.

"What is it with you and your sister always causing altercations with my apprentice?" Amberfern hissed, as she loomed in front of him.

Standing next to her, was Aspenbranch, who was shuffling the ground, looking like he'd rather be anywhere than there.

Juniperkit fixed him with a hostile glare.

If he had never told Amberfern about Dappledfur, then, she never would have been exiled.

But no, he shook his head, his only crime was falling love with a fox-heart like Amberfern, she's the one who told Whitestar.

Was it her fault though? She didn't force Whitestar to exile Dappledfur, she made that decision all on her own.

"Well?" Amberfern demanded.

"Let him be Amberfern, he's only a kit," Aspenbranch meowed softly, bristling, when the dark ginger she-cat turned to glare at him.

"How dare you speak to me that way!" she spat, "Are you my mate or not?"

"O-Of course I'm your mate!"

Juniperkit narrowed his eyes, at the look of fear in Aspenbranch's eyes.

He never knew anyone to be afraid of their mates before, not even Honeyflower, and she was mates with Badgerstep, the meanest cat in AcornClan!

Then again, she was pretty mean herself, but Badgerstep never looked afraid of her either.

Oh well, what did it matter to him whether Aspenbranch was having problems in his relationship?

Even though he believed that the tom was his father for most of his life, he meant no more to him than any of the other cats in the clan.

As they continued to bicker, he used that as an opportunity to race back to the nursery.

"Don't wake the kits," Flowerpelt meowed softly, as he crashed through the entrance.

_The kits._

The thought of them left a bitter taste in Juniperkit's mind; it was almost as bad as that disgusting mouse that Meadowkit had him try.

He knew he shouldn't hate them, after all, it wasn't their fault that they had a mother, and he didn't.

Besides, if he hated them, that wouldn't make him better than the cats who hated him and his sister, just because of the cats that they were born to.

"Did you have fun?" Meadowkit asked, bounding over, with Maplekit at her side like always.

_Well, it's good to see that she didn't lose her best friend. _

His heart wrenched at the thought of Larchpaw.

Back when the ginger apprentice was a kit, he was the only one who Juniperkit really got on well with.

Meadowkit was his sister, so of course he had to like her, but after Maplekit and Molekit were born, she spent almost all of her time with Maplekit, and together, they tried to think up ways to make everyone miserable with their pranks.

As for Molekit, he was pretty boring, because he didn't do much more than sleep.

Larchkit though, he was fierce, and he always told the most intense stories.

Warmth glowed through Juniperkit's pelt, as he remembered a story that Larchkit had told once, about how he had beaten a fox single pawed!

Even though Juniperkit knew that the story wasn't true, he could easily imagine it in his head.

But all of that was over, playing moss ball, the stories.

Just like Dappledfur was never coming back, Larchpaw would never be his friend again.

We're enemies now, Juniperkit thought with a sigh, and that's all we'll ever be.


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Thanks to NatCat for their OC_

* * *

Silence surrounded the camp, as Meadowpaw begrudgingly touched her nose to Honeyflower's.

_Why is no one cheering my name? Everyone cheered Larchpaw's name when he became an apprentice._

She glanced over at Juniperpaw, who had opened his jaws, but before he could get a word out, his own mentor, Badgerstep, slapped his tail over his mouth.

"I can't believe I have to share a den with those two now," she heard Larchpaw hiss to Amberfern, as she made her way back into the crowd.

"Congratulations," Sweethaze meowed softly, Stormfoot indicated her with a slight nod of her head.

_Well, at least not everyone is against me._

She was then suddenly knocked off her paws, when Flowerpelt's kits came racing out of the nursery.

"How does it feel to be an apprentice?" Cloverkit asked, with wonder shining in her green eyes.

Another one of the kits, Berrykit, stood up on his hind legs, and swiped a forepaw through the air.

"Are you going to learn how to fight?"

The last kit, Applekit, got into a hunter's crouch, and growled.

"How to hunt?"

"I'm going to learn how to do that, and more hopefully," Meadowpaw mrrowed, glad that at least some of the cats were excited for her, even if they were only kits.

"Hey Meadowpaw, would you like me to show you around the apprentice's den?" Cougarpaw meowed, padding up with her sister, Flightpaw.

"Sure, that'd be great, thanks!" Meadowpaw exclaimed, falling in step beside the older apprentices, as they made their way to the den.

She could hardly hold back a gasp, when she poked her head inside, it was way bigger than the nursery!

_If the apprentice's den is this big, then I can't wait to see how big the warrior's den is. _

"That's mine and Flightpaw's nest," Cougarpaw meowed, flicking her tail over the nest closest to the entrance."

"Which one is Larchpaw's?" Meadowpaw heard Juniperpaw meow from behind her.

"That one," Cougarpaw meowed, pointing at another nest, which was smack dab in the middle of den.

Meadowkit rolled her eyes, of course Larchpaw's nest would be in the center.

"What is she doing?" Juniperpaw asked, glancing over at Flightpaw, who had started settling down in her nest.

"Sleeping, she usually goes on night patrols, she says it makes her feel less blind, going out in the dark," Cougarpaw meowed with a yawn, "You know, I'm feeling a bit tired myself."

"Well, I'll leave you to it," Meadowpaw meowed, turning to Juniperpaw, to see that he was nosing around Larchpaw's nest.

She narrowed her eyes.

_What was that squirrel-brain doing? _

"Come on, let's go to our mentors," she meowed with a reluctant sigh.

Maybe if she worked hard as an apprentice, Honeyflower wouldn't dislike her as much, maybe she could earn the respect of her clanmates, and stop being treated like such an outsider.

Juniperpaw turned away from Larchpaw's nest, and wrinkled his nose.

"Do we have to? I want to spend as little time with Badgerstep as possible! I'd rather get greencough, than go out on patrol with him."

"And wouldn't that be a joy for everyone?"

Meadowpaw held back a growl, as Larchpaw roughly shoved past her, as he padded into the den.

He then let out a hiss when he saw Juniperpaw.

"Half-clans are not allowed to be that close to my nest!" he arched his back, "You lot can not be more than a fox length to my nest!"

"What kind of fox? Like, a huge fox, or like a tiny baby fox?" Juniperpaw asked.

Larchpaw rolled his eyes.

"Like the biggest fox you've ever seen!"

"Well, I've never seen a fox, so what you're basically saying, is that I can get as close to your nest as I want," Juniperpaw meowed, reaching out a paw, and tapping Larchpaw's nest.

"Noo!" the ginger tabby wailed, stomping his hind leg, "You know what I mean!"

"Stop messing around," Meadowpaw bristled at the growl that sounded from behind her.

"Yes," came her mentor's voice, "Meadowpaw, Juniperpaw, let's go, we're going to go check the BrightClan border."

"Those cats better not have been stealing prey again," Badgerstep growled.

Meadowpaw could hear the sound of him sinking his claws into the ground.

With a sigh, she turned to face the two warriors, and flicked Juniperpaw with her tail.

"I know," he whisper-hissed, going to stand beside his mentor, looking as though he'd just eaten mouse bile.

Meadowpaw wanted to ask Badgerstep what he had meant, about BrightClan stealing prey again, but the words stuck in her throat.

Had the other clan really been stealing prey? Would there be a war over it? She wondered, as she followed the two mentors towards the camp entrance, where Bluebeetle was keeping guard.

Like always, the blue-grey warrior said nothing, just indicated them with a slight nod of his head, to let them know that he had seen them.

Thick trees full of different colored leaves soon surrounded Meadowpaw, and she took a deep breath, taking in their woodsy scent.

"Looks like leaf-fall is almost here," Honeyflower remarked, flicking a leaf off of her back with her tail.

"Looks like it's been here," Badgerstep snorted.

The golden she-cat narrowed her eyes.

"It was sweltering only a sunrise ago!"

"Hey, don't snap at me, I can't control the weather," Badgerstep hissed.

"I wasn't!" Honeyflower protested arching her back.

"Hey! Can you two stop? You're scaring all the prey away!"

Meadowpaw whipped her head around, and saw two unfamiliar cats, standing a few fox-lengths away.

One of the cats was a dark ginger tabby tom, and the other was a greyish-blue she-cat.

"Oh, if it isn't Flamethistle and the kittypet," Badgerstep sneered.

"Her name is Frostbite, and she's a BrightClan warrior!" the dark ginger tabby spat.

"Yeah!" the greyish-blue she-cat exclaimed, unsheathing your claws, "You better watch what you say to me!"

Flamethistle gave her a look, and she sheathed her claws, however, anger still blazed in her icy blue eyes.

"These your new apprentices Badgerstep and Honeyflower?" Flamethistle asked.

Frostbite snorted.

"They look no bigger than kits!"

Meadowpaw held back a growl.

How dare those stupid BrightClan cats say she looks like a kit!

"Well, if you don't mind, we're going to mark the border now, to make sure you lot don't cross over again," Badgerstep growled.

The two BrightClan cat's eyes widened, and their mouths dropped open.

"How dare you accuse us of crossing the border!" Frostbite spat.

"Yeah, we're honorable warriors, unlike you AcornClan cats!" Flamethistle growled.

Honeyflower rolled her eyes.

"Oh yes, honorable warriors, what kind of a warrior allows kittypets into their clan?"

Badgerstep nodded.

"Yeah, what's the matter? Your clan got so weak, that you had to start recruiting kittypets?"

"Take that back!" Frostbite growled, arching her back, and swiping her paw out.

Badgerstep let out a screech, and stumbled backwards.

Meadowpaw gasped at the sight of blood trickling down from his eye.

Honeyflower yowled, and threw herself on top of Frostbite, knocking the other she-cat off of her paws.

Meadowpaw stood there, wondering if she should help her mentor, or if she should hold back.

She didn't have any battle training yet, and Honeyflower didn't ask her for help, besides, what did she owe her?

"That is enough!" a loud, clear voice rang out, saving Meadowpaw from having to make a choice, and a grey she-cat with white stripes came racing up, with a look of anger in her pale, greyish blue eyes.

"They started it, Mistgaze!" Frostbite spat, letting go of Honeyflower's scruff.

"She probably blinded my clanmate!" the golden tabby growled, as she climbed to her paws.

Mistgaze's eyes widened.

"Is this true?" she demanded.

"It's not her fault," Flamethistle protested, coming to stand beside his clanmate, "They were riling her up on purpose."

The grey tabby lashed her tail.

"That is no excuse!" she narrowed her eyes, "Frostbite, I've told you countless times, Flashfoot has told you, even Goldstar has told you, and yet, you keep clawing cats in their eye! That is a move that is not allowed to use on another cat, no matter what the circumstances," She got so close in the other cat's face, that Meadowpaw worried that another fight would break out, "Do you understand me?"

"But they-"

"I don't care!"

Meadowpaw winced at the anger in the grey tabby's voice.

Even though Frostbite was supposed to be her enemy, and even though she had done something, wrong, she couldn't help but to feel sorry for her.

She couldn't imagine that it felt nice being scolded like that, especially in front of cats from another clan.

"Come on, we better go to Sapleaf before Badgerstep's eye falls out," Honeyflower growled.

Meadowpaw took one last glance at the BrightClan cats, before following her own clanmates back towards their camp, wondering if every border patrol was like this, and if it was, she wasn't sure if she was looking forward to the next one.


	7. Chapter 7

"Someone put a thorn in my nest!"

Juniperpaw curled his tail over his nose, trying to hold in a purr of amusement, as his denmate ran around, as though he had fire ants in his fur.

_Fire ants, maybe that should be the next thing I put in his nest._

"Larchpaw, stop running around like that, you're disturbing everyone's sleep," Kestrelpaw grumbled.

"Well, not everyone," Kinkpaw flicked her tail in the direction of Flightpaw and Cougarpaw's nest, "I don't see why they're allowed to go out at this time, is that even allowed?"

"If their mentors and Whitestar says it is, then I guess it is."

Juniperpaw turned his attention away from the two cats, and focused on his own sister, who surprisingly, was still asleep.

He felt tempted to wake her up, but he knew if Larchpaw knew that he was awake, he'd start accusing him of putting the thorn in his nest.

_Even though I did._

He must have dozed off, because the next thing he knew, Meadowpaw was prodding him awake.

"Get up! Whitestar wants to see you."

Juniperpaw quickly jumped up to his paws, with his heart thudding in his chest.

Had the leader found out what he had done to Larchpaw? Was he going to be exiled?

Would he even care if they did exile him?

If they did exile him, would BrightClan take him in? From what he saw yesterday, they seemed to be a lot more accepting than AcornClan.

_They let a kittypet in their clan for StarClan's sake!_

"Why did she want to see me?" he asked his sister, deciding it would be best if he didn't get ahead of himself.

He couldn't just up and try to join BrightClan, at least not without his sister.

Besides, how could he leave the clan that his mother loved? The one she'd grown up in?

_AcornClan is my home! No matter what those other cats say._

"I don't know, but it sounded pretty important," Meadowpaw meowed.

Juniperpaw let out a long sigh, and padded out of the apprentice's den, not at all surprised when no one said anything to him, other than a slight sneer from Larchpaw, which he brushed off, he was used to getting mean looks from the handsome ginger tom.

When he reached Whitestar's den, the white pelted leader lashed her tail with impatience.

"About time!"

"It wasn't that long," a black speckled, brownish-ginger she-cat with white paws meowed, Juniperpaw remembered that her name was Leopardsoul, or something like that.

Whitestar narrowed her eyes at the warrior.

"I don't have time to argue," she turned her focus back to Juniperpaw, who fought the urge to bristle under her intense green gaze, "Since Badgerstep is healing in the medicine cat from that attack by that BrightClan brute, Leopardsoul here will be taking over your apprenticeship, at least until he gets better."

That news was almost enough to make Juniperpaw let out a cry of joy, and jump into the air.

He wouldn't have to deal with mean old Badgerstep, at least, not for awhile.

"Come on, we're doing battle training," Leopardsoul meowed, as she padded out of the leader's den.

Juniperpaw followed her, with so much excitement rising up in his chest, that he felt as though it would burst, battle training was the thing he was looking the least forward to when he found out that Badgerstep would be his mentor.

_He'd probably let me get seriously hurt, or even killed, on purpose._

"Welcome to the training hollow," Leopardsoul meowed, when they reached an open area, surrounded by a circle of trees.

A purr erupted from his chest, when he saw that Meadowpaw was there too, however, his good mood dampened, when he saw that Honeyflower was also there.

"We decided that since you two are the youngest apprentices, you will be battle training together," Leopardsoul meowed.

"I still think we should have paired them up with Kinkpaw and Kestrelpaw, or even Larchpaw, that way, they're able to face an opponent bigger and more experienced than they are, in a real battle, it won't always be evenly matched," Honeyflower meowed.

"Yes, but they're only just going to learn the basics today."

"The basics?" the golden tabby she-cat hissed, "What if BrightClan or CreekClan were to attack right now?"

What would we do if one of those clans attacked? Juniperpaw wondered, remembering how badly that BrightClan cat had hurt Badgerstep.

_And he's one of our strongest warriors!_

Juniperpaw bristled when he saw Amberfern padding up with Larchpaw.

"What are they doing here?" Leopardsoul demanded, noticing them as well.

Honeyflower greeted her sister and her apprentice with a dip of her head, before turning to the speckled warrior.

"I thought it'd be best if these new apprentices learned a thing or two from Larchpaw, he's going to be a warrior soon," the golden tabby purred, looking at Larchpaw as if he was the greatest thing in the world.

"Great," Meadowpaw muttered sarcastically in Juniperpaw's ear.

"What was that?" her mentor demanded, narrowing her green eyes.

"She said it's great that we get to learn from such a strong and experienced apprentice," Juniperpaw meowed, quickly jumping to his sister's defense.

"I hope that's what she meant," Honeyflower growled.

"Alright," Amberfern meowed, padding over to stand in front of Juniperpaw and Meadowpaw, "First thing's first, you can't be an AcornClan cat, if you can't climb a tree."

Climb a tree? Juniperpaw bristled, as he gazed up at the large oak tree, that was so tall, it reached the sky!

_If I climbed that and fell, I'd die!_

He glanced over at Meadowpaw, to see if she looked as afraid as he felt, but to his surprise, her orange eyes were gleaming with excitement.

"Isn't this going to be fun?" she purred.

"Yeahhh, falling to my death sounds like sooo much fun," he spat.

She rolled her eyes.

"All AcornClan cats climb trees," she then lowered her voice, "You want to be accepted, don't you?"

"So can squirrels, but they're not accepted as members of AcornClan, are they?" Juniperpaw asked, "Face it Meadowpaw, we're half-clan, they're never going to accept us."

"If you two are finished chattering away like sparrows, we have important training to do," Amberfern spat.

Juniperpaw turned to face the dark golden tabby, feeling Meadowpaw's eyes burning into his back, as a prickle of guilt rose up in his chest.

Maybe he shouldn't have spoken so harshly to her, or said that they'd never be accepted.

Perhaps, one day, Whitestar would finally go to StarClan, and all the other cats who spoke out against them, and they would be free to be actual members of AcornClan.

"Okay, here's what's going to happen," Amberfern flicked her tail to the largest, tallest tree in the circle, "The apprentices are going to climb the tree, and whoever is the last to reach the top is stuck on tick duty."

Guess I'm stuck on tick duty then, Juniperpaw thought, because there was no way that he was climbing up that tree.

He didn't care if his clanmates accepted him as an AcornClan cat or not, under no circumstances, no matter how much anyone told him to, he would never ever climb that tree.

"Watch this," Larchpaw meowed, jumping gracefully off the ground, and landing a couple of fox-lengths up the trunk of the tree.

"Okay, even I have to admit that was impressive," Meadowpaw meowed, before wiggling her haunches, and springing forward.

Juniperpaw held his breath, as she almost hit face first into the tree.

Luckily, however, she stopped short, just a mere vole-tail away from the tree, and landed on the ground.

She let out a small hiss, before leaping up, and gripping the bark with her claws, as she scampered up after Larchpaw.

"Well, you better get a move on, you don't want to be stuck doing tick duty, do you?" Leopardsoul meowed.

"I'm just fine here, thanks, I think I'd rather do tick duty than die," Juniperpaw meowed, sitting down, and tucking his forelegs under his chest, gazing up at Meadowpaw, as she climbed the tree, looking like nothing more than a speck of white, grey, and cream amongst the red, orange, and yellow leaves.

"That's nonsense!" Amberfern hissed, "All AcornClan cats climb trees!"

"Well, most of the cats here are always calling me Half-Clan, so maybe I just take after my non-AcornClan half," Juniperpaw meowed.

He knew he probably shouldn't be antagonizing the warrior, but she irritated him, by saying that all AcornClan cats climbed trees, as a way to force him to climb a tree, and she didn't even consider him a member of the clan!

"If Badgerstep was fit enough to still be your mentor, he'd never let you get away with this," Honeyflower growled, "He'd drag you up that tree himself!"

_And he'd probably drop me from the highest point too._

After what seemed like moons, Larchpaw and Meadowpaw started to climb down from the tree.

As he watched them, Juniperpaw kneaded the ground nervously, he didn't want Meadowpaw to fall! He didn't want Larchpaw to fall either, even if the other apprentice was a mouse-brained fox-heart.

"I caught a blackbird while I was up there!" Larchpaw bragged.

Sure enough, his words were muffled by the prey that was clamped in his mouth.

"I can't wait until I'm able to do that," Meadowpaw meowed, her eyes gleaming with awe.

"Fat chance of that," Larchpaw snorted, "Only real AcornClan cats can hunt in trees!"

"I am a real AcornClan cat!" Meadowpaw protested.

"Oh yeah? What kind of AcornClan cat has a brother who's too afraid to climb a tree?"

Meadowpaw turned to Juniperpaw, and he bristled beneath her glare, feeling a prickle of guilt, and then anger.

"As if you would know, you don't even have a brother, or any littermates for that matter, I bet StarClan knew you would be so horrible, that they didn't dare give you any other littermates!" Juniperpaw spat.

"Juniperpaw!" Hollyflower gasped, her eyes wide with horror, "How dare you speak to my son that way, you have tick duty for the next three moons!"

"Oh come on, apprentices bicker all the time, you can't punish him for that," Leopardsoul protested.

"I think she can, he's causing a disruption, and I'm sure Whitestar would agree," Amberfern meowed, wrapping her tail around Larchpaw, who had his head in his paws, wailing softly, as though he were a kit.

Juniperpaw rolled his eyes at the sight of the older apprentice.

_Pathetic. _

"I think you need to go talk to Whitestar about this," Amberfern hissed, before nudging Larchpaw to his feet.

The ginger apprentice let out a sniffle, before grabbing his blackbird, and following his mentor.

"You really need to get it together," Meadowpaw hissed, "If you want to be accepted, then you're going to have to learn how to climb trees, and how to get along with your clanmates."

"I'll try harder next time," Juniperpaw grumbled, though, he wasn't sure if he was being totally honest.

What was the point of trying hard to be a good apprentice, in a clan that would never really accept him?


	8. Chapter 8

"Great catch!"

Dropping her squirrel in the fresh-kill pile, Meadowpaw whirled around, widening her eyes with surprise, when she saw Larchpaw standing there.

Had the ginger tom actually complimented her?

"I mean," he licked his chest fur, looking less than confident for the first time in his life, "It's a great catch, for a Half-Clan."

Meadowpaw rolled her eyes, even when he was being nice, he still found some way to insult her.

"I can't believe Whitestar chose you of all cats to go to the gathering," Larchpaw continued, grabbing the squirrel that Meadowpaw had caught.

At the mention of the gathering, her heart fluttered in her chest.

She couldn't wait to go and meet the other clans.

_But what if they think I'm nothing more than a lowly half-clan cat as well? _

"They'll probably be announcing Kinkfeather's, Kestrelwing's, Flightwing's, and Cougarwing's warrior names," Maplepaw meowed.

Meadowpaw blinked warmly at her friend, glad for the distraction from her thoughts about what the other clans would think of her.

The black and silver she-cat shook her head.

"I don't know why Whitestar gave three of them the same name, especially since two of them are littermates! I hope she doesn't give Molepaw and I the same name!" she took a deep breath, and her dark blue eyes grew with wonder, "I want a name all my own, a name that no cat has ever had before."

"Aren't Kinkfeather and Kestrelwing your sibling's?" Larchpaw asked.

"Yeah, so are Stormfoot, Sweethaze, and Shrewclaw, why do you ask?"

The ginger tom licked his paw.

"Well, as you know, I'm going to be a warrior myself soon, and well, Kinkfeather is a strong and loyal warrior, and well, I think that I could be the perfect mate for her."

Meadowpaw rolled her eyes, as if Kinkfeather would be squirrel-brained enough to be his mate.

"I can try talking to her," Maplepaw meowed, "But I can't make any promises, Kinkfeather isn't exactly the easiest cat to get close to."

A purr rumbled in Larchpaw's throat.

"That's good, because I love a challenge."

Feeling even more annoyed, Meadowpaw padded away from the two cats, fearing that if she stayed any longer, she would claw off Larchpaw's ears, and have her chances of going to the gathering ruined.

"Come on Juniperpaw, just climb the tree!"

Meadowpaw turned her attention to Leopardsoul's irritated groan.

She saw her brother, standing on his hind legs, with his front paws against the trunk of the tree.

"Just put your claws out, and grip it like you're gripping a piece of fresh-kill," she meowed, padding over there to them.

She couldn't let her brother keep failing at being an AcornClan cat, if she wanted the clan to accept her, then they would have to accept her brother as well.

"Yes, like Meadowpaw said," Leopardsoul meowed.

Juniperpaw nodded, and lifted one white paw, extending his claws, and sinking them into the tree, before making a face, and pulling away.

"I don't like the way the bark feels beneath my claws!" he hissed.

"Oh come on!" Meadowpaw groaned.

_Why did her brother have to be so useless? _

"Try to focus on something else, like, a squirrel or a bird that you're going to catch," Leopardsoul meowed.

Juniperpaw nodded, and padded back over to the tree, Meadowpaw took a deep breath.

Please, StarClan, please let him climb the tree! She silently prayed.

"So, how's my apprentice doing?"

Meadowpaw jumped slightly, and turned her head, to see Badgerstep standing there.

This was the first time she'd seen him since the altercation with BrightClan, and she could barely hold back a gasp, when she saw that his eye, that Frostbite had clawed, had gone from amber to white.

Even though she couldn't stand the black and white tom, she couldn't help but to feel bad for him.

"He's a good cat, he never complains about helping the elders, and he doesn't cause any trouble on border patrols, but I still can't get him to climb a tree," the black speckled she-cat sighed, sounding defeated.

A breeze swished through Meadowpaw's pelt, as Badgerstep blazed paced her, tackling her brother to the ground.

"What was that for?" the black tom hissed, glaring at his mentor, who still had him pinned down.

"Climb the tree now," Badgerstep growled, his teeth dangerously close to Juniperpaw's throat.

Meadowpaw fought the urge to go over there, she couldn't let him hurt her brother!

However, she knew that if she went over there, it would only make things worse for not only Juniperpaw, but her as well.

"Might as well go join those ground cats in BrightClan, or even those fish cats in CreekClan, you will never belong here, your mother made a mistake in kitting you, and now she's dead."

Meadowpaw dug her claws into the ground, holding back a growl, how could Badgerstep call her brother a mistake?

_Does he think I'm a mistake as well? _

"Your mother is dead because of you."

Feeling anger burn in her pelt, Meadowpaw started forward, before feeling sharp teeth dig in her scruff.

"Don't you dare," Honeyflower growled, "This isn't your fight."

Meadowpaw opened her jaws to protest, when her brother raised one paw, catching Badgerstep above his good eye.

The black and white tom reeled back with a shriek of pain, and Meadowpaw was released, when Honeyflower darted over to her mate.

"What have you done?" she hissed at Juniperpaw, "You could have blinded him!"

The black tom flicked his tail.

"Yeah, I could have, but I didn't, but next time, he might not be so lucky."

A shiver of fear ran down Meadowpaw's spine at her brother's cold voice, what had turned him this way?

The brother she knew was kind, and always willing to help others, but now, he seemed just as mean as Amberfern.

"It's time to go to the gathering!" Talonleap announced.

Meadowpaw shot one last look at her brother, before shaking her head, and following the deputy, and the rest of the cats who were going to the gathering, out of the camp.

"Isn't it great that we're going to the gathering?" Maplepaw exclaimed.

"Yes," Meadowpaw meowed, swallowing back a twinge of jealousy, she hadn't been chosen to go to the gathering when she first became an apprentice.

She wondered if she and Juniperpaw were even mentioned as being new apprentices of AcornClan?

"I wonder if we're going to meet any mean cats?" Molepaw meowed.

"Don't worry, we're the meanest cats in the forest," his mentor, Wolffang, meowed with a teasing flicker in his amber eyes.

It might be true though, Meadowpaw thought, thinking of Badgerstep, Honeyflowerflower, Amberfern, Whitestar, Shrewclaw, a lump formed in her throat, and Juniperpaw.

"Look! There's cats here!"

Maplepaw's excited squeal broke into Meadowpaw's thoughts, and she gazed around the clearing, to see a group of sleek furred cats milling around.

"That's CreekClan, they have the prettiest fur, but the smelliest breath!" Talonleap wrinkled his nose, "I'm going to go say hello."

"Feel free to talk to the other cats from CreekClan, and when BrightClan arrive, you can talk to them too, that's why we're here," Honeyflower meowed, before racing over to a brown and white tom.

Meadowpaw blinked with surprise at her mentor, had she actually been nice to her?

"I haven't seen you here before."

Meadowpaw turned, to see a black and white she-cat with pretty silver-blue eyes standing there.

"I'm Seraphpaw, from BrightClan, and you are-" her nose twitched, "From AcornClan I'm guessing?"

"What kind of name is Seraphpaw?" Maplepaw blurted out, before Meadowpaw had a chance to reply.

"The name that my mother gave me," the black and white she-cat responded.

"Come on Seraphpaw!" a golden yellow tom, with black stripes on his legs called.

"That's my mentor, Shrikeclaw, hopefully I'll see you around!"

Wow! I can't believe I actually talked to a cat from another clan, and we didn't even fight! Meadowpaw thought, excitement bubbled in her chest, as she scanned the clearing.

Suddenly, a dark brown and cream face appeared in front of hers.

"Hello, I'm Bloomingthistle of CreekClan, this your first time here?"

"Yeah, how'd you guess?" Meadowpaw felt the fur rise along her spine, did she really seem that out of place?

"I haven't seen you around here before, and I make it my mission to get to know every cat in the forest."

"She's hoping to be deputy someday," a grey tom meowed wryly.

"Cats of all clans, gather around!" an elderly, sleek furred, brown tabby she-cat yowled from her perch beside Whitestar, and a golden she-cat.

With her heart pounding in her chest, Meadowpaw padded over with Maplepaw and Molepaw, to sit among her clanmates.

When it was Whitestar's turn to speak, would she announce the fact that she was half-clan?

"Things in CreekClan are going as well to be expected," the brown tabby coughed, "We are thankful that the stream has not yet dried up."

When the CreekClan leader sat down, Whitestar stood up.

"We have four new warriors in AcornClan, Kestrelwing, Kinkfeather, Cougarwing, and Flightwing."

Yowls erupted from all the cats, as everyone cheered their names.

"There are also new apprentices in AcornClan!" Whitestar exclaimed, "Maplepaw and Molepaw!"

I wonder if anyone cheered my name like that? Meadowpaw thought, or if I was even announced as an apprentice at all?

"As you might have already heard, our medicine cat, Rosestem, left the clans to go be a kittypet," the golden furred she-cat began.

Hisses of outrage erupted from the clearing.

"How could she betray her own clan like that?" a pale tabby warrior hissed.

"Especially this close to leaf-bare!" a mottled she-cat exclaimed.

The golden leader lashed her tail, silencing the yowls of protest.

"Not all is lost, soon after Rosestem left, StarClan granted us with a new medicine cat!"

Meadowpaw's heart stopped in her chest, when she saw a familiar light brown tabby take his place among the other medicine cats.

_Beeflight? _


End file.
